?<£>¥4 



PC 
IQIoS 













M 



.* • . ^ * • 



\ 



/ r 



AN ESSAY, &c. 



AN ESSAY 



ON THE 



Best Method of Teaching 

FOREIGN LANGUAGES, 



AS APPLIED 

WITH EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS TO THE FRENCH 
LANGUAGE; 

WITH 

A Table, displaying the Philosophy of the Relative Per- 
sonal Pronouns, and rendering their use and syntax 
perfectly easy at first sight. 

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED 

A DISCOURSE, 



FORMATION @$p PR06^^^ 



BY PETER S/CHAZOTTE, 

riUUFBSSOR Or THE FRENCH LASTGL^AGE AT PHILADELPHIA, 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY EDWARD EARLE, NO. 2, LIBRARY STREET, NEAR 

FOURTH. 

W. Fry, Printer. 

1817, 






District of Pennsylvania, to witr 
******** BE it REMEMBERED, that on the eighteenth 
J SEAL! * day of November, in the forty-second year of the 
* * independence of the United States of America, A. 

******** D 1 g 17> Peter S.Chazotte, of the said district, 
hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right -where* 
6f he claims as author, in the words following, to wit: 

"An Essay on the best Method of Teaching Foreign Lan- 
guages, as applied with extraordinary success to the 
French Language; with a Table, displaying the Philoso- 
phy of the Relative Personal Pronouns, and rendering 
their use and syntax perfectly easy at first sight. To which 
is prefixed a Discourse, on the Formation and Progress 
of Languages. By Peter S. Chazotte, Professor of the 
French Language at Philadelphia." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, 
entituled, " An act for the encouragement of learning, by secu- 
ring the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and 
proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." 
And also to the act, entitled, e< An act supplementary to an act, 
entitled, " An act for the encouragement of learning, by secur- 
ing th£ copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and 
proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned," 
and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, en- 
graving, and etching historical and other prints." 

D.CALDWELL, 

Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania* 



PREFACE. 

A FEW days ago a gentleman of this city, 
whose cultivated mind, refined manners, and 
urbanity are as fascinating as his conversation 
is agreeable and instructive, addressed me in 
these words: " How does it happen, sir, that 
every French teacher who offers himself to the 
notice of the public, declares he is possessed of 
a very superior method of teaching the French 
language, when it is known that many of them 
have never taught it before? if so, what im- 
provements can they have made in the difficult 
art of teaching? I think, sir, that these gentle- 
men do not deal fairly with us. Certainly we 
would think it preposterous and contemptible 
in the extreme in him who, without having 
ever practised physic, would impertinently 
have the presumption of directing our most ce- 
lebrated and skilful physicians how to operate 
on the human body? or in him who, view- 

A 



2 Preface. 

ing, as every creature does, the magnificence of 
the heavens, would presume, without previous 
studies and a capacious mind, to give to our 
Newton and your Cassini, the epithet of igno- 
rant deceivers; and tell the world that he has 
a more perfect knowledge than they of both 
the theory and attributes of the heavenly bo- 
dies. Do not believe from what I have just 
been telling you, that J think it impossible to 
bring nearer to perfection the art or manner 
of teaching, and particularly foreign languages. 
No; you have, on the contrary, convinced me, 
by a happy experiment, of the great improve- 
ments you have made towards it. I know how 
slow and gradual the progress of human know- 
ledge is; and I think that we are to expect im- 
portant improvements ofily from those who to 
information, research, reflection, and diligence, 
unite a long experience in the practice of their 
profession. I shall close these remarks by in- 
viting you to publish your new method of 
teaching the French language; and through you, 
I make the same invitation to such of the other 



Preface. 3 

teachers as may have made other real improve- 
ments. By this means, a valuable selection 
might be made, which would simplify and ren- 
der the manner of teaching it less variable, and 
infinitely more congenial with nature and phi- 
losophy. 5 ' 

Conscious of the correctness of your re- 
marks, I replied, it is about a year ago, that I 
took a pen to draw a sketch of my new me- 
thod, with a view to make it public, I was 
proceeding towards it, when various consider- 
ations dried, if I may be allowed to use the 
expression, the ink in the nib of my pen. To 
do justice to my system, I said to myself, I 
will be obliged to expose the folly, the igno- 
rance, the imposition and the extravagance 
of others. Truth is not always welcome, and I 
may be thought either vain or envious. Has 
not imposture found its' abettors? Has not de- 
clamation been mistaken for sound judgment, 
and the most absurd and extravagant system 
met with admirers and supporters? Yes, deceit 



1 Preface. 

has been rewarded and stands equal to an ho- 
nourable fulfilment of sacred promises. Who 
ever exposed the man, who promised and gave 
his word of honour, that with the help of his 
grammar and dictionary, he would teach the 
French language in three lessons, provided he 
was paid fifty-five dollars in advance? Not 
one. On the contrary, many went to him, paid 
him fifty- five dollars, received his promises 
and three lessons, and being dismissed without 
having acquired any thing, they were satisfied 
with greeting him with the epithet of rogue; 
and walked home loaded with useless books. 
But soon after, the same man took a new 
ground. An undefined system was offered un- 
der pompons names; thousands could be taught 
at *he same time, and they all were to acquire 
the language within three short months, by 
merely mimicking phrases all at the same time 
after the manner of parrots. Well, Sir, the 
people believed it, they flocked to the place of 
rendezvous, formed large classes, which con- 
siderably increased the number of victims. 



Preface, 5 

Nevertheless, they all remained silent, and 
why? Because upon reflection, they saw the 
impossibility of it. They were ashamed of 
their folly, and would have preferred seeing 
every citizen deceived in the same manner, 
rather than own their want of judgment and 
their too great credulity. 

Sir, we are strange beings indeed. No ra- 
tional system wall satisfy our wishes for won- 
ders, and Nature's path is too old a track for 
us to follow. Simple and regular beauties have 
lost their attractive power; nothing but novelty 
can awake our curiosity. Let Nature, in her 
way of sporting with the weak understanding 
of man, cause the birth of a monster, we all 
run, we all pay a tribute to it. Let ignorance, 
folly or interest, create monsters in the arts or 
sciences, and we see that without reflection or 
examination, many declare themselves the 
champions of these new born systems. The 
greater their deformities, the warmer they 
grow in their support, and even resort to abuse, 

A2 



6 Preface. 

because some people will not betray their 
judgment and take it for granted, that these 
monsters have the exact proportions of Na- 
ture's most perfect work. 

For a new instance of this love of novelty, 
peruse an Essay lately published in New York, 
bv a Mr. Hamilton, a new comer to the United 
States, and now in this city. You will find in 
it, a new-born system for teaching the French 
language, brought forth by one, who is not a 
Frenchman; who had never before attempted 
to teach it; and who was ignorant enough to 
suppose, that a language can be acquired gram- 
matically, without having a knowledge of the 
verbs. I confess it is a rare phenomenon. It 
embarrasses me to say what it is, except I call 
it, a body without substance, which casts a sha- 
dow produced by no light. But, Sir, what is not 
less extraordinary, this essay is accompanied 
by the signatures of some Latin and Greek 
scholars, whose certificate proves, that usable 



Preface. 7 

to get the substance, they have grasped at the 
shadow, with which they are well pleased. 

The inventor of this (I do not know how to 
name it, but suppose it be a system,) expect- 
ing to give a lustre to his name, declares he 
received his education with the Jesuits, and re- 
sided in France the greater part of his life. 
Although I wish not to question the correct- 
ness of his statement, I may at least be allow- 
ed, according to the rule he has laid down with 
respect to others, to doubt of his capacity to 
teach either the French or English languages. 
In the specimens he has given of both, in his 
Essay, I find the English full of errors, false 
constructions, and incoherences; the French, 
a compound of a specific gibberish, unconnect- 
ed sentences, and ill assorted expressions; the 
whole of it, a budget of asperities, virulence, 
and aspersions, against the fair reputation of 
every teacher, grammarian, and lexicographer. 
He alone is honest, and to prove this, he dis- 
cards all grammars and dictionaries; he uses 



8 Preface. 

the Bible at first, and then Voltaire or Gil 
Bias, (three well assorted books, indeed!) His 
scholars have nothing to commit to memory, 
no rule to learn, nothing in fact to do; he takes 
upon himself the whole trouble of learning for 
them; they have only to listen to him for about 
fifty hours 2X different times, and mimic whatever 
he is pleased to tell them; and behold, instant- 
ly, they all speak French as fluently and cor- 
rectly as their vernacular tongue, and under- 
stand grammar without having ever seen or 
been taught any!!! — Why, Sir, he is a prophet 
endowed with the divine power of distributing 
tongues to his disciples. In fine, to use his fa- 
vourite metaphor; he is a new born Moses, who 
offers to take the lead of a new race of Israel- 
ites, in order to conduct them, through a short- 
er way than the Red Sea, into the promised 
land; but, he does not say, that he also means 
to take charge of the plate and jewels of the 
modern Egyptians, and then leave his followers 
to wander forty years in the desart in search of 



Preface. 9 

the promised land: this, I suppose, is under- 
stood. 

Now, Sir, allow me to ask you, how a mo- 
dest man, who lays no claim to fame, can ex- 
pect the public will discard these long cherished 
monsters, which I have been pourtraying, in 
order to receive and welcome a system, ground- 
ed on the simple principles of nature, and which 
will offer no deformity? 

" The public," he replied, " may be led into 
error, and be deceived in those things, of which 
they are not perfectly qualified to be a judge. 
Besides, the Americans are too honest to refuse 
a due credit to him, who gives his honour as 
a pledge of what he promises to perform. But 
he, who abuses our credulity, ought to be 
branded with infamy. Do us the justice to be- 
lieve, that nothing will mislead us in our judg- 
ment, if we are furnished with proper antidotes, 
and be enabled to compare systems with sys- 
tems. It is for this obvious reason, that I have 



10 Preface. 

desired you to publish your new method; and 
be assured, Sir, that the public will soon dis- 
criminate between him who is the sycophant, 
and he who is the teacher.' 5 

In compliance with this gentleman's much 
respected request, I have now the honour of 
laying before the public, an Essay, on the best 
method of teaching foreign languages, and par- 
ticularly the French: preceded by an introduc- 
tory discourse, taking a cursory and rapid view 
of the formation and progress of languages. 



AX 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, 



ON THE 



FORMATION AND PROGRESS 



LANGUAGES. 

I VIEW Languages, as having the same 
Divine origin. God in creating man, endowed 
him, not only with the faculty of thinking, but 
also with the capacity of uttering such sounds, 
as would serve to represent his thoughts and 
pourtray his numerous affections. It is proba- 
ble, that a modulation of the voice, or perhaps, 
a simple articulation, was then expressive of a 
whole body of thoughts. In proportion as the 
senses were more or less affected by inward 
impulses, or external objects, the countenance 



12 On the Formation and 

performed either a smaller or a greater share of 
the operations of the mind. Just moulded by 
the hands of his Maker, man was astonished at 
his existence; every new object that struck his 
sight, caused surprise, threw him into raptures, 
and produced ecstasy. In that happy state, he 
had but to enjoy, to love, and ^admire; hence, 
his mind was rather contemplative; his tongue 
needed not perform numerous functions, and 
although he was all thought, these thoughts 
remained unexpressed by sounds. As long as 
he lived happy, his vocabulary of sounds was 
small; but, when he incurred the wrath of his 
Maker, when deprived of the estate of bliss he 
had enjoyed, he had to toil, hunger and thirst; 
when he saw the guilty hands of a son, crimson- 
ed with the innocent blood of a brother; when 
pains, rendered acute by remorse, made his 
tongue break forth in loud complaints, he then 
rent the air. The echoes were, for the first time, 
saluted with the accents of despair, and heard 
names given to things that had no name 
before. 



Progress of Languages. IS 

From this very early period of the world, 
may be traced the gradual progress of the vo- 
cabulary of sounds, which constituted the pri- 
mitive language of men. As long as they lived 
together and formed but one small society, this 
vocabulary, trifling indeed, if compared with 
ours, yet sufficiently copious for the intercourse 
of men in the primitive stage of nature, served 
to express their few wants, their affections, their 
desires, and to interchange ideas with each 
other. 

Men unacquainted with the cultivation of 
the earth, to make it bring forth its annual 
treasures, found it impossible to form a large 
society. The same spot, could not long afford 
a sufficiency of fruits for a multiplying race, 
nor pasture enough to feed the flocks that pro- 
vided them with milk. The earth laid wide 
open to their view, they must part, and go in 
search of other spots. No geographer had in- 
formed them of the diversity of climates; the 
world, with them, was the visual horizon, and 

B 



14 On the Formation and 

the centre of it was the cedar, the palm, or the 
fig tree, that had been a witness of their birth. 
Imperious necessity, that which overleaps every 
obstacle, and silences the dearest affections of 
the heart, self-preservation, commanded them 
not to delay the moment of their parting. With 
reluctance, d^e sons and the fathers, the sisters 
and the mothers, bid each other adieu; and 
each head of a family, taking with him his wife, 
his children, and his share of the common flock, 
they pursue in silence different directions, and 
move off with a slow and tardy step, as if loath 
to quit the scenery that had enlivened their in- 
fantine sports. It may perhaps be said in this 
place, that on the division of the common flock, 
the idea of property attached to mine and thine, 
was for the first time conceived. 

Now reader, let us follow them while they 
proceed on their way, and mark this new era 
in the progress of language. Each head of a 
family carriei with him that first vocabulary of 
sounds he has been taught to lisp by the side 



Progress of Languages. 1 5 

of his mother. See, how they are variously af- 
fected by the unexpected sight of things un- 
known to them before, and by obstacles and 
multiplied accidents, of which they had no 
idea: Unknowingly, they expose themselves 
to imminent dangers; they proceed through 
trackless forests, and their way is obstructed 
by morasses and creeks. Obliged to trace back 
a part of their way, they are assailed by wild 
and ferocious beasts, monstrous crocodiles and 
serpents; they must fight their way through; a 
part of their flock has perished with fatigue; 
another has been devoured by carnivorous 
beasts, that have also threatened the travelling 
colony with destruction; in fine, thousands of 
accidents, some disastrous, others happy, have 
succeeded each other, and taught them lessons 
of experience. But a wide river stops unex- 
pectedly the progress of their course; the oppo- 
site shore displays to their view, natural and 
verdant meadows, which roll themselves far 
beyond the reach of the sight — how exuberant 
a spot for them to feed and raise their flocks! 



16 On the Formation and 

The colony must go over to the opposite shore, 
and they set their mind to work, in order to 
find a way to effect it; — they succeed, and rivers 
cease to be an obstacle to their progress. How 
great the enlargement of the mind which their 
various situations have produced since their 
first parting! how numerous the ideas, generat- 
ed by all they have seen, encountered and ex- 
perienced! They have viewed, compared 
and analysed every new object; this operation 
of the mind expands the human understand- 
ing; they utter new sounds to express and com- 
municate their new-born ideas, and each tra- 
velling colony by numerous additions, has 
tripled the size of the first vocabulary. 

Had they been travelling together, they 
might have interchanged their ideas and agreed 
on the sounds that were to express them; but 
the colonies were separated and far distant from 
each other; they had no means of communica- 
tion, and could not impart their discoveries; 
therefore, every colony swelled its private vo- 



Progress of Languages. 17 

cabulary with sounds dissimilar with those of 
the other, and all the additions made since their 
first parting, were represented by different arti- 
culations and modulations of the voice. This 
is the great era of the formation and multipli- 
cation of languages, which branched out, and 
increased, in proportion as men parted from 
each other or formed themselves into separate 
tribes and societies. 

Years and centuries rolled away ere the 
whole world was taken possession of by man. 
In the mean time, the frozen zone courted his . 
presence and retained him there by forming 
barriers of snow to prevent his egress; the tem- 
perate zone attracted him by its mild cli- 
mate, its wild figs, and grapes, or perhaps by 
its roots and its acorns; and the torrid allured 
liim, with its ever green foliage, its luxuriance 
and ever-growing fruits. While they were thus 
branching in every direction, the crossing of 
large rivers had given him the first idea of ship 
building; he had felled a tree, and made a 
B2 



18 On the Formation and 

canoe. He is now. seen gliding gently down to 
the mouths of rivers, which he has already 
made tributary; but while employed in making 
the sea yield him also its treasures, a sudden 
blast drives him from the shore. The whist- 
lings of the winds announce the war of the 
elements. The sun, hidden by a triple range of 
thick clouds, which its rays cannot penetrate, 
leaves hardly a sufficient light to discover the 
horizon inflamed and darkened by turns; light- 
nings rend and furrow the dark veil; peals of 
thunder shake the earth, roar, swell, bounce as 
it were upon a chain of mountains, and sink 
lowering into the immensity of space; the fury 
of the winds raises the anger of the deeps; they 
swell into mountains, sink into abysses, and 
rise again into higher mountains still: the 
clouds, broken in the mighty conflict, open 
gaping mouths, from which torrents are fall- 
ing. The heaven, the earth, and the sea, are all 
confounded, and struck with mutual terror. 
Man, in a frail bark, tossed and carried from 
the top of a briny mountain into a thousand 



Progress of Languages. 19 

gaping abysses, — anticipates the hour of his 
destruction; frighted, terrified, depressed, he 
is helpless; the horror he feels enchains all his 
faculties: he neither thinks, sees, or hears. 
Amidst this most terrific conflict, unguided by 
either the rays of the sun, or far remote shin- 
ing moon and stars, in the gloom of darkness, 
he is vomited by the sea upon an unknown 
coast. — But God has effected his great pur- 
poses! He now bids the elements be silent. 
The winds precipitately retire into their icy 
caves; the thunders stifle their terrifying voice; 
the billows sink, the sea is calm. The eastern 
horizon is now seen glowing with the brilliant 
and fresh colours of the Aurora, and the gates 
of the morning are thrown open, to let the sun 
re-appear more majestic than ever. It brings 
tidings of peace, and with a voice that glad- 
dened all nature, and struck man with rever- 
ence and awe, the Almighty attended by hosts 
of celestial legions, made known these words: 
" Man, behold, I have given thee these islands? 
" go thou and increase, and train up thy chil- 



20 On the Formation and 

" dren to love me and to be just!" The echoes 
repeated these cheering sounds; the mountains 
manifested their joy, and the air resounded 
with the notes of the winged inhabitants: they 
all united to salute the approach of man. Thus, 
by the unerring will of God, to which philoso- 
phers have given the name of accident, chance, 
and fatality, man saw himself in possession of 
the whole earth. 

We have seen the human race, spreading 
over the face of the earth, dividing, and sub- 
dividing itself into innumerable tribes and peo- 
ple; some making progress towards civilization 
and languages, others growing stupid and de- 
generate; several after having acquired a dis- 
tinguished name, fell again into the ignorance 
of the first age; while others, rose from a state 
of barbarism to the rank of nations. The revo- 
lutions in the human understanding have been 
as numerous as the changes men have experi- 
enced in their relative situations; hence the 
vocabularies of languages increased and de- 



Progress of Languages. 21 

creased alternately, both in number and size: 
many were forgotten or engrafted on others, 
and new ones were formed. 

I shall not mention those periods, which 
Witnessed, when the bold and the strong en- 
slaved his fellow man; when the lazy became 
guilty of theft, and the stupid sold his liberty; 
but, I wish it were possible to mention the 
name of him, who became the earthly benefac- 
tor of man, by teaching him the art of agricul- 
ture. To him, immortal statues are due. To 
him, we are all indebted for the regular deve- 
lopement of the human mind, which began in 
that important period. Men, who had until 
then been scattered and dispersed, frequently 
warring against each other for food, began to 
connect themselves, and form large societies. 
In interchanging their ideas, they enriched their 
languages. The heroic time followed. Ambi- 
tion made heroes, and produced tyrants. But 
languages were still transient, instantaneous 
sounds, lost as soon as uttered, and traditions 



22 On the Formation and 

were the only records of all the mighty deeds. 
He who had sacked a city, destroyed its inha- 
bitants and laid waste a territory, wished to 
perpetuate his bloody deeds, and emblematical 
figures, called hieroglyphics, were invented. 
Nevertheless the same language remained sub- 
divided into many irregular parts; that is to 
say, each man, according to the sphere he 
moved in, could only know a part of the gene- 
ral vocabulary, which constituted the language 
of a distinct people; — this continued, with va- 
rious modifications, until the great era of the 
invention of letters, which chronologists ascribe 
to Memnon, the Egyptian. This great discov- 
ery enabled those, whose superiority of intel- 
lect had elevated them above their fellow men, 
to embody the numerous dialects spoken by 
the same people, into a language. All the words 
and expressions already known, were collected; 
the language acquired a real consistence, and 
the learned wrote and gave perpetuity to their 
thoughts. But this embodied language was 
only known by a few, who had ambition 



Progress of Languages. 23 

enough and leisure to spend their juvenile 
years in acquiring, by study in the closet, a per- 
fect knowledge of it. The national language 
was thereby divided into two parts; the -first 
comprised the numerous dialects spoken by 
the several members of the same political body, 
which were attainable only by conversation, 
and required a long life, spent in constant 
intercourse with the several members of the 
same community. The second, comprised 
them all, and was attainable, by dint of study* 
The first remained subdivided and circum- 
scribed within each man's sphere, and formed 
what may be called the dialects of the vulgar; 
the second, was the language of the learned; — 
the first made but little improvement if any; 
the second multiplied its collections;— the one, 
were transient sounds, easily lost; the other, 
was durable; and as years weighed on the past, 
drove and sunk each other alternatively into 
the abyss of time, they grew into two distinct 
languages. He who carried his thoughts as 
high as the stars, and dived into futurity, made 



24 On the Formation and 

use of words and expressions which were not 
understood by him, whose mind remained fet- 
tered within a narrow compass. 

Already the Babylonian, the Chaldean and 
Chinese monarchies had grown formidable, and 
large cities stood on the same spots, where shep- 
herds had grazed their flocks. The Egyptians 
were engaged in building those superb towers, 
whose stupendous size were to strike future 
generations with admiration, and remain for 
ever monuments of the servitude of the peo- 
ple and the tyranny of their masters. Moses 
flying from tyranny, carried with him the rich 
collection made by the Egyptians; a language 
rendered copious by the increased discoveries 
of past ages, and comprehending the terms and 
expressions made use of by the learned to impart 
their profound thoughts, and those uttered by 
the artist, the mechanic and husbandman. See 
how he leads his host of Hebrews; detains them 
forty years in the desart, and after their hoary 
heads had descended into the silent tomb, and 



J 



Progress of Languages* 2 

the child and the babe were grown to manhood, 
moulded and trained up as it were by his hands, 
he then marches with this renewed race into 
the long promised land; however, he only leads 
them into the land of Moab, and lays it waste; 
but his successor, Joshua, introduced them in- 
to Canaan; sacked, burnt, and destroyed every 
city; cut off thirty-one kings and people; even 
the hoary head, who sighed after the grave, 
and the beauteous virgin who anticipated plea- 
surable days; the blooming bride, who already 
bore the wished-for fruit of her tender love, 
and the innocent, graceful, and smiling babe 
and infant; they all fell as an atonement for the 
idolatry their forefathers had taught to their 
parents. As many people as were destroyed, 
were as many languages or dialects lost and 
blotted out from the general catalogue. The 
Hebrew people and their language, (which un- 
doubtedly was the Egyptian) were transplanted 
and thrived upon the smoking ashes of others. 
Thus, have been cut oft' and destroyed those 
over grown and mighty empires, which have 

C 



26 On the Formation and 

oppressed and terrified the earth by turns, and 
given place to other people and languages. 
The Assyrian made way for the Persian, which 
was swallowed up by the Greek; the Roman 
grew a monster upon their united ruins, and at 
last fell and sunk, under the renewed attacks of 
innumerable hosts of northern barbarians: 
Rome, the mistress of the world, surrendered 
to the Gothic chieftain Aiaric. 

The subversion of empires has often been 
productive of considerable good towards the 
developement of the human mind, the progress 
of knowledge, and the advancement of langua- 
ges. The Hebrews, writers say, acquired new 
ideas on the immortality of the soul by their 
being carried into captivity to Babylon; and 
wliile Confucius taught reason and philosophy 
to the docile Chinese, Cambyses was incensed 
on seeing the learned Egyptians falling pros- 
trate at the feet of their god Osiris: Solomon 
was proclaiming an only and perfect God, and 
found but a few real believers; while Homer, 



Progress of Languages. 27 

who was creating them by hundreds as wicked 
as he knew men to be, saw people and nations 
worship them as their supreme divinities. Ly- 
curgus became a republican, whilst seeking 
wisdom under despotic princes, and when he 
was teaching kings to become citizens, and ci- 
tizens to be kings, Macedonia was bending its 
neck to receive the yoke of a tyrant. Athens, 
so celebrated for her wisdom, her sages, her 
arts, and sciences, sent her phalanx under 
Xenophon, to help a Persian king to increase 
the number of his slaves; and put Socrates to 
death for daring to be virtuous! 

During those mighty conflicts, between folly 
and reason, ignorance and philosophy, slavery 
and independence, the sacred fire of liberty 
burst and spread its flames; the mind increased 
its treasures, and the soul acquired a new T force 
and energy. The poets sung the deeds of the 
heroes; shaded the brows of both the warrior 
and the patriot with wreaths of unfading laurel, 
and immortalized the products of genius; the 



28 On the Formation and 

historians penned the rise, progress, and fall of 
empires; and the legislators expounded the 
laws, which have so great an influence on the 
destiny of both men and nations. A noble 
emulation filled every heart, and even the war- 
riors, crowned with laurel, sought a new road 
to fame; and Athens, by turns, free and en- 
slaved, victorious and subdued; sometimes 
dictating the law, at others, receiving it from 
the conqueror, preserved unobscured, the 
bright luminaries she had produced; they shone 
on the world and enlightened it. After the ex- 
ample of Alexandria, a large library was form- 
ed, which became the depository of original 
manuscripts and copies from the ancients, 
which together, contained all the products of 
the human mind and the efforts of genius. But 
with a view to preserve their beauteous and 
rich language from barbarism, and transmit it 
chaste and unsullied to their posterity, they 
formed a regular body of grammarians or cri- 
tics. Thus, Athens became both the repository 
and nursery of learning. Kings and princes, 



Progress of Languages. 29 

the free man, and he, whose body is at the 
command of a despot, but whose elastic mind 
cannot be fettered, repaired thither, from dis- 
tant countries and nations, with a view to re- 
ceive lessons on philosophy, letters, arts, and 
mamiers. 

When the Romans sent ambassadors to 
Athens, to obtain a copy of Solon's laws, their 
language (the Latin) was yet as rough and un- 
polished, as the block of wood which they wor- 
shipped; or perhaps as uncouth, as the massy 
stone they received as being the mother of the 
gods, from the hands of the best man amongst 
them. They were, then, greater warriors than 
philosophers, and more fond of strife than learn- 
ing. But when they had extended their con- 
quests; when the plebeians, feeling like men, 
disputed the power usurped over them by the 
haughty patricians; when learning was found 
necessary to gain an ascendency over the po- 
pulace; the rich plebeians and the grown despo- 
tic patricians, endeavoured to rival each other 

C2 



30 On the Formation and 

ia literature. Athens saw them entering her 
gates and fill her academies. They returned to 
Rome, after they had treasured up invaluable 
riches, and the Greek tongue became the 
classical language of the Romans: the enthusi- 
ast thought it derogatory, and vulgar in the 
extreme, to speak his vernacular tongue. 

Rome had now subdued the world; her pow- 
er was colossean, her arms irresistible and 
overwhelming. Carthage, her rival, was no 
more; and from the western coasts of Africa, 
which proudly bore the columns of Hercules, 
and stayed the fury of the Atlantic, to the far 
remote shores of the Red Sea; nations, peo- 
ple, and tribes, received and obeyed her impe- 
rious mandates. Jerusalem had fallen, and the 
undaunted Parthians trembled on their seeing 
her eagles crossing the Euphrates; Mount 
Caucasus stooped under her mighty weight, 
and the Scythians flew back terrified; the 
Euxine rolled its waves as if they were still 
carrying the relentless pursuers of the unfor- 



Progress of Languages. 31 

tunate, and yet great Mithridates; the Danube 
swelled with pride on seeing its banks united by 
a majestic bridge, smiled at the irritated Rhine 
for refusing a passage to her victorious legions; 
and proud Albion, yet unarmed with the 
mighty trident of Neptune, like the Gauls, had 
fallen prostrate at the feet of the Caesars. Na- 
tions, kingdoms, and republics, obeyed her 
laws, paid homage and reluctant obedience to 
that terrible and colossean idol; and thee, also, 
thou justly fair famed Greece, whose victories 
had raised crowds of pyramids to thy glory, 
and whose superiority of intellect had crowned 
them with monuments by far superior and 
more lasting than marble columns and statues; 
thou, the nursery of great men, and the semi- 
nary of the world, became but a dependent 
province of thy pupil Rome! 

Wherever the triumphant eagles rested and 
imposed the Roman laws, they also introduced 
the Latin language; a language rendered copi- 
ous by the accruing additions of ages, the en- 



32 On the Formation and 

thusiasm of liberty, the researches of the learn - 
ed, and the inexhaustible treasures gathered in 
Greece and Asia. Athens had taught Rome, 
and Rome instructed the world, which she 
ruled, as legislator and supreme lord; but at the 
height of her glory, her citizens, corrupted by 
Asiatic luxury, grew effeminate; and whilst her 
name kept still the world in awe, they became 
slaves to each new succeeding tyrant. Liberty 
had fled from her walls, and patriotism vanish- 
ed with the king-like name of Roman citizen. 
Torn by internal commotions, attacked on 
every side, she fell — and like Carthage, her 
former rival, offered no longer but the dismal 
skeleton of her past grandeur; her vast empire 
was dismembered and broken into pieces by 
innumerable hosts of northern barbarians; who 
successively pressed on each other, like the 
billows, when the sea irritated by tempests, 
opens its abysses, rises, roars, and swells into 
mountains, pressing and driving each other 
forward, till the northern winds are exhausted 
and a calm succeeds. 



Progress of Languages. 33 

With Rome, perished the records of the pro- 
ducts of genius, the monuments of past glory, 
and the models of the arts. The Latin tongue 
made room for the barbarian dialects of the con- 
querors, and the world nearly sunk into the ig- 
norance of the first ages. But God, who watches 
over the destiny of men, did not then permit 
Constantinople to share the ill-fated lot of her 
mother Rome. The manuscripts, inclosed with- 
in the walls of that city, escaped the destroying 
hands of the invaders, and served in future times 
as a literary alphabet for the revival of letters* 

The manuscripts, that were thus preserved* 
remained, as it were, secreted for centuries in 
the convents of the monks, and the closets of 
the priests, who were then the only persons 
who yet understood the learned languages. The 
numerous dialects, introduced by the invaders, 
were still unembodied by writings for it is 
doubtful, whether the great Charlemagne knew 
how to read and write the language he spoke; 
certain it is, that he knew not the Latin. In this 



34 On the Formation and 

general state of ignorance, kings and princes, 
with a view to administer justice in matters 
that common usages could not determine, had 
from necessity, to employ monks and priests to 
expound and explain such fragments of ancient 
laws as had here and there escaped from the 
general desolation; they even performed the 
function of judges. In consequence of which, 
many of the ancient Roman laws were revived 
and transcribed in Latin. However, this lan- 
guage was, as it were, the property of a few 
only. It was not to be attained by the degrad- 
ed slaves, and their haughty masters thought it 
beneath their dignity to spend years in acquir- 
ing a knowledge of it. In the mean time, the 
schismatist had formed new plans and met with 
contrary schemes; the schismatics had differed 
in tenets and encountered rebuffs and opposi- 
tions from the church; the scholiasts disagreed 
in their explanations; astrologers quarrelled 
with astronomers; divisions, jealousy; perhaps 
a desire of fame, or the more noble desire of 
being useful to mankind, brought on a conflict 



Progress of Languages. 35 

of opinion; the relics of antiquity were search, 
ed and produced; gleams of light issued from 
the cloister and the cabinet, and began to dispel 
the gloom that pervaded Europe. Besides, the 
ecclesiastics had not yet been commanded by 
the pontiff of the court of Rome, to break the 
sacred ties of nature and conjugal union; their 
interests were still connected with those of so- 
ciety; they married, had a partner of their bo- 
som; children to love; a country to respect; 
useful members of society, they enjoyed the 
prerogatives and rights of citizens, and the 
privileges of ministers of a holy religion. Hence, 
in their fraternal intercourse with their fellow- 
citizens, they instructed them as men, and 
from the pulpit, spake to them as ambassadors 
from the Almighty: they worked persuasion. 
Moved by feelings of paternal love, and a due 
respect for their character, they instructed their 
children and even their relatives, and imparted 
to them their whole stock of knowledge. This 
double connection of the ecclesiastics with so- 
ciety, and the church, was productive of mani- 



36 On the Formation and 

fold advantages towards the improvement of 
the human understanding and the advancement 
of modern languages. 

The modern languages Were already embo- 
died, and had made some progress towards 
perfection. Each of them partook more or less 
of the several dialects introduced by the suc- 
cessive invaders — they were subdivided and 
marked the origin of the several people that 
spoke them. These mongrel dialects formed 
the languages spoken by the slaves, and are yet 
spoken with some deviations, by the peasantry 
and poorer class on the continent of Europe. 
The written languages, formed of several dia- 
lects, took a degree of refinement, and were 
the languages spoken by the courts, the higher 
ranks of society, the ecclesiastic, and the free 
men, with all their natural deformities, and the 
mixture each one made, with the dialect of his 
native province. 

With a view to diffuse knowledge, acade- 



Progress of Languages. 37 

rnies were formed, and shortly after, universi- 
ties were founded. The modern languages 
received considerable additions; the Latin 
tongue was stripped to give to them regularity, 
beauty, and energy. Notwithstanding these 
great improvements, there being no general 
standard, the learned continued to pen their 
productions in the Latin tongue, which cir- 
cumstance was productive of much delay and 
impeded the progress of modern languages. 

In Britain, the national language had made 
but little progress on account of the peculiar 
political situation of that country. After the 
Romans had withdrawn their armies, it remain- 
ed exposed to the incursions of the Picts and 
Scots. Vortigern invited the Saxons to come 
and help the British to chastise their enemies; 
but they would be masters of a people whom 
they had been called to defend, and the subse- 
quent landing of other Saxons established the 
Heptarchy. The Saxon language was already 
ingrafted on the British and was improving, 

D 



38 On the Formation and 

when the repeated invasions of the Danes 
brought on new wars and revolutions, which 
were undoubtedly productive of considerable 
alterations. Nevertheless, it was still in that 
state of rudeness which unfitted it to express 
the various conceptions of an improved mind, 
when William, duke of Normandy, landed* 
fought and conquered. The victor, in dictating 
his laws, imposed also his language on his new 
subjects, and the French became in England, 
the language of the court and nobles, the cler- 
gy and the free men. The annals of England 
assert, that in the year 1095, Ulstan, bishop of 
Worcester, was deprived of his bishopric for 
not understanding French; and in the year 
1362, Edward the 3d, granted as a favour to 
his people, that law pleadings should be chang- 
ed from French into English. During a series 
of three hundred successive years, this lan- 
guage was in a great measure national, inas- 
much, that all governmental and civil acts 
were written in French. Therefore, all persons 
above the degraded state of a slave, were in- 



Progress of Languages. 39 

terested in acquiring a knowledge of it. When 
it ceased by the concession of Edward, to be 
the language used in civil laws, one half of it 
at least was actually retained, and is found em- 
bodied with the English language, where it has 
preserved its old etymology, which is hardly 
discernible in the present polished French Ian- 
guage. 

The great era for the general diffusion of 
knowledge was fast approaching; it was pre- 
ceded by a general emancipation of slaves in 
France and other countries. Was this the work 
of a philanthropic mind? No; the barons were 
warring against their sovereigns, to whom many 
of them were more than an equal match. The 
sovereigns, to retain their thrones, must increase 
their power. They created hosts of freed men, 
who became the natural supporters of him to 
whom they owed their liberty, and the before 
mighty barons fell prostrate at the feet of their 
disliked sovereigns. What virtue and reason 
could not have effected, ambition achieved, and 



40 On the Formation and 

cities became for the wretched and oppressed 
inhabitants of the country, what the cities of 
refuge had been to the oppressed Israelites. 
The haughty barons and ignorant nobles se- 
questrated themselves in their castles, disdain- 
ing to administer justice, Which duty was still 
incumbent upon them: they thought it too bur- 
thensome, or rather derogatory, and commis- 
sioned freed men to act in their stead. These 
grasped with eagerness at a power which they 
were only to exercise for others, but which 
they soon claimed as a part of their privileges. 
To dispense justice and understand the laws, 
they were obliged to study the learned lan- 
guages. The barons and nobles retained their 
ignorance and their pride; the freed men, or 
commons, grew into power; they became le- 
gislators, historians, poets, philosophers, and 
scientific men. 

The art of printing was at this time invented 
and tolerably improved. Manuscripts were 
printed and knowledge began to be more 



Progress of Languages. 41 

widely diffused. The modern languages, en- 
riched and adorned by the ancients, grew into 
solidjand durable bodies. The Latin, stripped 
of all its beauties, reduced to a skeleton, re- 
mained as it were upon a death bed. The 
study of the Greek was also revived; their 
poets, historians and orators, were patterns for 
imitation; we were to be pleased, amused, and 
be made angry, as the Greeks were, and eat 
and drink as they did. That enthusiasm was 
however productive of much good; it gave us 
a taste for polite literature, adorned our minds, 
and taught us to express our ideas with ele- 
gance and dignity. 

Near five hundred years had now elapsed 
since the ecclesiastics had been severed 
from the ties tiiat had attached them to 
society: they were strangers in their native 
country; the voice of sentiment was stifled, 
and the inspirations of the heart had yield- 
ed to seduction, or rather to the fear and 
terror inspired by the court of Rome. The 

D2 



42 On the Formation and 

marriage of the ecclesiastics ordered by the 
ancient law and adopted by the primitive 
church, had been proscribed, their wives had 
been dishonoured by the unmerited epithet of 
concubines, and their unhappy children had 
been victims devoted to contempt, opprobrium, 
and misery. Thus severed from all that was 
endearing to their hearts, the ecclesiastics be- 
came the vile instruments of persecutions, 
cruelties, and crimes of every kind, in the 
hands of the all ambitious court of Rome. 
That city had grown upon the ashes of ancient 
Rome, who had conquered the world by the 
force of her arms; the new, headed by ambi- 
tious pontiffs, also aimed at universal power, 
and in the name of a meek and infinitely just 
God, perpetrated the most heinous crimes, 
such as nature abhors. Her armies composed 
of millions, carried with them the thunders of 
excommunication, the dagger, the poison, the 
rack, and the fire; they had broken loose the 
ties that united the people with their sove- 
reigns; and the domination of new Rome was 
felt every where. Corrupt, tyrannical, and re- 



Progress of Languages. 43 

vengeful, justice was sacrificed to ambition; 
humanity to avarice; religion to fanaticism; and 
all manner of crimes could be atoned for and 
redeemed with money. Such was the baneful 
and destructive influence of the sacerdotal 
power, when Reform began. This forms a 
great era for the perfection of modern lan- 
guages. The thunders from the Vatican, did 
not deter men from searching truth in the 
scriptures. The people must be spoken to, de- 
tached from the church, or be retained in it. 
Controversies were not to be written in Latin, 
a language with which the people was unac- 
quainted; they must be written in the vulgar 
tongues. Each side showed itself fertile in ar- 
guments, fruitful in resources, keen in replies, 
rich in expressions, sublime in ideas, and the 
productions of the moderns began to rival 
those of the ancients. Men, who in spite of 
repeated excommunications, the rack, the fire, 
and the sword, had dared to investigate religion 
in the sacred volumes, and to assault the much 
redoubted and before held sacred fortifications 
of the church of Rome, were not to confine 



44 On the Formation and 

their inquiries to religious matters only. They 
discussed the political rights of man; they in- 
quired into the essence and end of civil socie- 
ties; they selected patterns; they contrasted the 
superior capacity and character of a free man, 
with the degrading and humiliating condition 
of a slave. In Greece, they saw kings descend- 
ing from the throne, to take the superior title 
of citizens; and other kings and tyrants hurled 
from their regal seats. Numbers of petty states 
rising to liberty and independence, and by a 
combination of their forces growing more than 
a match for the despotic sovereigns of Asia. 
They saw Tarquin pursued by the avenging 
hand of Brutus, and a mighty republic rising 
upon the ruins of monarchy. They saw Julius 
Caesar, crowned with unfaded laurels, a writer, 
a hero, the most liberal and clement of con- 
querors, weltering in blood, flowing from the 
wounds inflicted by the hand of a republican 
son, for aiming at regal power. Enraptured by 
the charms of liberty, inflamed with the noble 
desire of instructing their fellow men, they 



Progress of Languages. 45 

wrote, and their works shook and astonished 
the world. Fully competent for the task, they 
equalled, nay, they even excelled the ancients. 
The modern languages were then found to 
unite the graces of the Greek with the mascu- 
line strength of the Latin; copious, strong, 
bold, harmonious, energetic and numerous, 
they became perfectly classic. 

After the example of the ancients, the mo- 
derns formed libraries and bodies of critics^ 
who were to polish the languages. Dictionaries 
were compiled, and comprised all the words, 
together with their several definitions, or the 
sense each one expresses and conveys to the 
mind. These words were analysed and classed 
according to their essence, attributes, and 
functions. Grammar was made a rudiment 
leading to the principles of all thoughts, and 
teaching by simple examples, the general clas- 
sification of words and their subdivisions in 
expressing the various conceptions of the mind. 
Grammar is then the key to the perfect under- 



46 On the Formation and 

standing of languages; without which we are 
left to wander all our lives, in an intricate la- 
byrinth, without being able to trace back again 
any part of our way. It may here be said, that 
the body of man was made of clay, and his 
mind by the spirit of God, of which speech is 
the sensible image, and forms likewise a per- 
fect whole; and as the arms, the legs, the eyes, 
the mouth, &c, are parts which perform sepa- 
rate functions inherent to the body, so the parts 
of speech in performing their relative functions 
are inherent parts of the spiritual body of the 
mind. Hence, he who knows but words with- 
out having been taught to analyse their various 
attributes, is as ignorant of the power and fa- 
culties of his mind, as a babe, in full possession 
of a perfectly constituted body, is of the use of 
its arms and legs, &cc. with which he knows 
not yet how to help himself; 

Every age has given birth to some of those 
ignorant and bold demagogues, who are heard 
crying down grammar, and calling it a mere 



Progress of Languages. 47 

pedantic production, a useless study, unneces- 
sary to the attainment of a language. Crowd 
the memory with words, they say, and lan- 
guages will be sooner acquired without the use 
of either grammar or dictionary! These are 
sycophantic effusions, proclaiming the phrensy 
of an empty head. Reason discards such a rant, 
and the experience of ages gives the lie to the 
delirium of these self- conceited and self-be- 
loved philosophers. 

Every man moves in a particular sphere, the 
horizon of which is either small or extended, 
according to his situation in life. He who is 
brought up to shoe-making, will move in a 
much narrower circle than he who is building 
a ship. The degrees of distance between them 
from a common point, will be nearly in the 
compound proportions existing between a 
steam-boat and a simple canoe. Therefore, he 
who will know words only, will find his attain- 
ment in language equal to the making of canoes 
as they were always made; but he who has ac- 



43 On the Formation and 

quired his language by analysis, that is to say 
grammatically, will be competent to form 
ideas as compound as the machineries of a 
steam-boat. This difference is produced by 
the requisite compound operations of the mind, 
in order to regulate the proportions to be given 
to every thing entering in the perfect construc- 
tion of a ship and a steam- boat, and the no- 
thingness of the mind in the making of a shoe, 
and a canoe. Words do not instruct: they are 
mere representatives of sounds; but the analysis 
of ideas works upon the mind and teaches it to 
think. Let two boys of the same age and ca- 
pacity be placed at a school. The one to learn 
his language, merely by spelling and reading, 
and the other grammatically. The first acquires 
the art of compounding syllables and uttering 
sounds; the sense of the words is neglected; 
the Bible is read over, the English Reader is 
mimicked, and neither of them are understood. 
The second acquires, in the same manner, both 
the compounding of syllables and the uttering 
of sounds; but he is also taught to class the 



Progress of Languages. 49 

words according to the functions they perform 
in the discourse; he understands the idea of the 
author, criticises his defects, and becomes a 
judge of the language. The first has acquired 
words: the second, words and ideas; besides, 
these acquirements are still subordinate to the 
extent of their reading, which is extremely- 
limited. In order to improve the subject, let 
us bring a third boy of the same age and capa- 
city with the two others. He will, as they do, 
acquire spelling and reading; but the Latin, the 
Greek or the French are added to the English. 
A grammar and a dictionary are put in his 
hands. He proceeds slowly at first; but as he 
proceeds, he learns the classification of words. 
Virgil, Homer, and the French classics present 
themselves successively. Each new word offers 
him a new idea; he must understand his author 
before he writes; translating word for word 
would not do; the essence of the thought must 
be found; he thinks, compares, and composes- 
He did not intend learning the English, and 
yet there is not a word in the English language., 

E 



50 On the Formation and 

that he has not been obliged to use repeatedly, 
in translating his Latin, Greek and French 
authors. His mind is grown luxuriant with the 
products of ancient and modern genius, and he 
is already a learned man, when he is hardly 
sixteen years old. 

But where are the two other boys when ar- 
rived at the age of manhood? The first mimicks 
words as his father did; the second is a citizen 
of sound judgment, who has, perhaps, adorned 
his mind with polite literature; and the third? 
Ready to embark on the wide sea of abstract 
sciences, a voyage, from which he will return 
fully prepared to take his flight into higher re- 
gions, and there stand as a bright luminary 
diffusing light upon his native country. 

Had it not been for his dictionary and his 

grammar, which taught him the essence of all 

.languages, and the natural subdivision of their 

component parts, he might have spent a life as 

long as Methuselah's, in learning words with-' 



Progress of Languages. 51 

out being able to attain to a degree of perfec- 
tion in any of the languages. 

I confess that all those that have attempted 
to learn the Latin, Greek and French, have not 
grown stars in the heaven; no, but they gene- 
rally form that class of men which produces 
able statesmen and skilful politicians; legisla- 
tors and philosophers; historians and poets; 
divines and civilians; physicians and scientific 
men. Many, indeed, from a defect of intellect 
or other causes, sit quietly in obscurity among 
the crowd that surrounds the elegant and solid 
temple of knowledge: they were satisfied with 
casting a glance at the portico, they never 
viewed the beauties of the inside. Besides, it 
may be said that the attainment of one or se- 
veral languages is considered by many as a 
mere matter of fashion, which changes just as 
the particular colour or shape of a coat, that is 
laid aside at the appearance of a new one. This 
is daily verified, and particularly in the attain- 
ment of the French language, which of late 



52 On the Formation and 

seems to be a distinctive quality of a gentleman 
throughout the world. The two- thirds at least 
of all those who present themselves to be ad- 
mitted into the temple of French literature, are 
led to it, it seems, by a spirit of fashion, with- 
out having either the design or the wish to sit 
in it as members; — they submit to the ordeals 
of the ceremony of admission, ascend one or 
two of the steps that lead up to the peristyle, 
where stand the majestic columns of the tem- 
ple, and then disappear, there to be seen no 
more. The French falls instantly out of fashion 
with them, and is replaced by the Hebrew, the 
German, the Spanish, drawing, music, and 
dancing, which successively meet with the 
same fate. This fickleness in fashions, has been 
the ground work upon which demagogues have 
built the edifice of public and private decep- 
tion. One of them being asked by a sensible 
man, how he could have made such publica- 
tions as filled the columns of every newspaper, 
and given his word of honour, that, by the mere 
mimicking of a few phrases, articulated by 



Progress of Languages* 53 

hundreds at the same time, he would in three 
short months, make them partakers in all the 
beauties of French literature, and enable them 
them to read, hear, speak, and write French 
perfectly well, deliberately answered, " I must 
"make the French grow into fashion, and as I 
" know it will soon be out of it, till then I shall 
" teach them how to count from one to a hun- 
" dred; then the Lord's prayer, and a few such 
" phrases as, Je mange unpain de trots livres a 
" mon dejeuner , I eat a three pound loaf at my 
" breakfast? Comment vous portez-vous> how 
" do ye do, and the like, &c. &c. It is all they 
" want, and need to know." " Well," replied 
the gentleman, " I understand you perfectly, 
" and thank you for thus relieving my mind; 
u for had you convinced me that you were 
" able to perform what you promised to the 
•* public, I would instantly have got hold of a 
" rope and hung myself, for my having spent 
" years in acquiring, what you promised to do 
u in a few lessons." 

E2 



54 On the Formation and 

Whether the now refined modern languages 
will meet with the fate of the Greek and Latin, 
and become, in their turns, dead classical lan- 
guages, for new people. rising upon the ruins 
of those now existing, or be transmitted living 
by succeeding and endless generations, to the 
farthest end of time, is only known by Him, 
who is the great dispenser of all good, and who 
makes men and languages, the rise and fall of 
nations and empires, subservient to his great 
purposes, as tending towards the end designed 
by the works of his creation. 

In the foregoing discourse, I have endea- 
voured to trace the principal features and 
causes of the revolutions that have taken place 
in languages; how they have branched out from 
one into many; how several of them were lost 
and destroyed, and new ones were formed, and 
increased on the remains of others; by what 
accidents and subversions of people and em- 
pires, the most enlightened and perfect Ian- 
guages ceased to be spoken, and were replaced 



Progress of Languages. 55 

by numerous rude and barbarous dialects; 
and how these dead languages, being partly 
revived, served to improve and enrich the 
living, to a degree of perfection far surpassing 
the polished Greek and the manly Latin. I 
shall, therefore, discard the subject, to look for 
the best method of teaching foreign languages. 
Ten years experience have enabled me to dis- 
cover where the old and new methods were 
defective, and to make teaching perfectly ana- 
logical to the very essence and nature of lan- 
guages. 



AN ESSAY 



Best Method of Teaching 
FOREIGN LANGUAGES, 

AS ADAPTED TO THE FRENCH, 



BY THE AUTHOR. 



SINCE the invention of letters, languages- 
have grown into three component parts. First, 
the uttering of sounds, as expressive of our 
thoughts, and which may be properly called, 
the language of the tongue. Second, the pro- 
per value of sounds representing the thoughts 
of others, and which are conveyed to the un- 
derstanding through the organ of hearing, 
which we will call the language of the ear. 
Third, the combination of letters, as represent 



58 On the best Method of 

tative of sounds, and serving to embody the 
various conceptions of the mind, may be called 
the language of the understanding. It is neces- 
sary to acquire these three parts with equal per- 
fection, in order to possess a perfect know- 
ledge of a modern language. 

The manner by which we are taught from 
childhood, to acquire a knowledge of our ver- 
nacular tongue, is by means of letters; there- 
fore, we are to be taught the first and second 
parts, through the third. 

I distribute the generality of those that at- 
tempt at a knowledge of foreign languages, into 
four classes: 

The first comprises boys, whose acquired 
vocabulary of words is small. 

The second comprise young and grown 
men, who are acquainted with words only, the 
quantity of which is indeterminate. 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 59 

The third comprises such, as understand 
their vernacular tongue grammatically., and are 
thereby able to analyse ideas. 

The fourth comprises literary men, who 
possess the etymology of words, and consider 
them only as the constituent parts of thoughts, 
and need but analyse and compare them, to 
find their relative attributes and functions in 
expressing the conception of the mind. 

Now if the language of the tongue and the 
ear, were not to be acquired, as in the dead 
languages, and learners were only to study the 
third part, that is to say, the language of the 
understanding, it would require three years 5 
study for the first class; two years for the se- 
cond; one year for the third; and two months 
only for the fourth. But if the first and second 
parts are added to the third, which together, 
constitute a knowledge of modern languages; 
the time requisite to acquire them, (I do not 
mean in perfection) will be found rather too 



60 On the best Method of 

long in three and two years, (not generally,) 
nearly even in one year, and too short in two 
months. Therefore, the first and second classes 
will speak and hear when spoken to, long be- 
fore they have attained a perfect knowledge of 
the third part. The third class will acquire the 
three component parts together, and at the 
same time; and the fourth class will be master 
of the third part, long before they either speak 
or understand the language of sounds. This 
parallel will be found correct, if it is considered 
that the faculty of uttering or flexibility of the 
tongue, as well as the sense of hearing, are 
pretty near equal in the four classes, whereas 
the intellectual powers are at vast distances 
from each other. This intellectual power may 
well be compared to a four horse race: the first 
of which is too young and weak to be able to 
run; the second is too clumsily built, to be any 
thing more than a heavy trotter; the third is a 
good galloper; but the fourth has all the nimble- 
ness and swiftness of a first rate Arabian horse. 
They start together from the same point; and 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 61 

behold, the Arabian horse runs over the race 
ground in two* minutes, and gets the purse; 
the galloper is twelve minutes running the 
same distance; the heavy trotter is twenty- four 
minutes; and the young and weak horse is 
thirty- six minutes. 

It will perhaps be said, that there are instan- 
ces which may destroy the parallel I have just 
been laying down; but I say no: although I can 
produce boys and girls, endowed indeed, with 
an extraordinary intelligence of mind, and a 
retentive memory, who at twelve years of age, 
put men and Latin scholars to the blush; and 
in six months time, receiving only three les- 
sons per week, acquired the three component 
parts of the French language (I do not say per- 
fectly) but they spoke, heard, and wrote it to- 
lerably well; yet they did not know the, French 
language. I can produce crowds of young 
gentlemen, who after receiving about forty -five 
lessons from me, have been enabled to express 
simple ideas, to hear when spoken to, and write 

F 



62 On the best Method of 

grammatically; and yet they do not know the 
French language. I can produce ladies and 
gentlemen, whose progress have been astonish- 
ing; who in less than four months time, have 
written French under dictation, with as much 
correctness and facility as their vernacular 
tongue, and read French from English, with 
great ease, without a dictionary; and yet they 
do not know the French language. If it be 
asked why? I answer, it is because the acquisi- 
tion has been too rapid to make a deep impres- 
sion. All the parts acquired, have not been 
digested; they crowd on the mind and confuse 
it; a reiteration of action of the tongue is want- 
ed to make it perfectly flexible and obedient; 
and the ear is not sufficiently acquainted with 
notes to discriminate the proper value of 
sounds. Therefore, the impressions produced 
are too light to be solid and durable, and may 
justly be compared to a rapid stroke of a pin 
upon a brass plate, which will disappear of it- 
self, except by repeated strokes in the same 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 63 

direction, the first impression be deepened, and 
thereby made as durable as the plate itself. 

That method which puts all the faculties 
into action, by following nature's path, to 
make the three component parts that consti- 
tute a language attainable all at the same 
time, must undoubtedly be superior to all 
others, and conducive to the end proposed by 
the shortest way. This is the method I have 
adopted, and practice has crowned it with ex- 
traordinary success. I claim it as mine, being 
the fruit of several years research, observation, 
and inquiry. 

It would require more time than I can con- 
veniently bestow on it at present, to give a per- 
fect description of this method; therefore, I 
shall only give the outlines of.it, which will, I 
hope, be found sufficient to display its natural 
simplicity: but with a view to render it per- 
fectly comprehensible, 1 shall proceed towards 



64 On the best Method of 

it as if I were giving a few of the first lessons 
to a class of beginners. 

Although a person learning » singly, may 
reap all the advantages possible, yet, 1 consider 
it a profit mutually advantageous, when a class 
is composed of two, three, four, and even six 
students. To have a number, let us suppose it 
to be four. 



First Lesson. 

Every student being provided with a gram- 
mar> an exercise book upon the accidence and 
the rules of the language, and a copy book to 
write in, the class opens by pronouncing the 
alphabet, after which we immediately pass to 
the nouns; I explain their nature, the genders, 
and how to form the numbers; the nature and 
use of the articles, how they are simple and 
contracted; and each having the same ex- 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 65 

amples in his hand, I pronounce distinctly 
every example, which is repeated alternately 
by every member of the class, in such a man- 
ner, that every member hears the same words 
he is to pronounce repeated successively five 
times. These examples, which are the great 
standards for the proper use of the articles, are 
to be committed to memory. But with a view 
to make a lasting impression upon the mind, 
we open the exercise book, in which a series 
of English sentences are prepared. The stu- 
dent is taught to translate them into French, 
according to the proper acceptation of every 
noun. This translation they write in a copy 
book. Being satisfied they understand well the 
part they have been called to exercise upon, 
much of it must be done at home. We then 
pass to a series of short French sentences, hav- 
ing the English translation by the side. I pro- 
nounce distinctly the first sentence; it is re- 
peated by the first on the right hand, then by 
the second, the third, the fourth, successively, 
one after the other. While they thus repeat, I 

F2 



66 On the best Method of 

correct the defects in the pronunciation, and 
we proceed through in the same manner. By 
this easy and simple method, the eye views the 
combination of letters, and compares the 
French with the English word answering to 
it; the tongue is taught to articulate the 
sounds represented by the letters, and by the 
repetition of the same sentence a number of 
times over, the ear begins to discriminate the 
proper value of each sound. These comprise 
the first lesson. 



Second Lesson. 

The class opens by repeating without a 
book and in the same manner as before de- 
scribed, the examples given on the articles and 
the nouns. After which, every one produces 
the translation he has been charged to do at 
home; the faults, if any, are corrected, and the 
parts upon which they have been exercising, 
are farther illustrated. The grammar is open- 



Teaching Foreign Languages, 67 

ed, and we successively pass under review all 
the pronouns. Their nature and use are ex- 
plained and illustrated by sensible examples; 
after which we pronounce them separately, by 
repeating as before stated. These are to be 
committed to memory. A new series of 
French sentences are pronounced and repeated 
as before. The text for exercises to be made 
at home is given, and the second lesson 
closes. 



Third Lesson. 

The task is examined and corrected, the 
lessons repeated, and we pass to the verbs. I 
illustrate this interesting subject by sensible 
examples. I explain the essence and use of the 
auxiliaries; their agency in forming the com- 
pound tenses of all the other verbs; how it is 
done; how they are made negative and inter- 
rogative, Sec. &c; after which we pronounce 
four of them, which are repeated as before stat- 



68 On the best Method of 

cd. A new series of French sentences is pro- 
nounced as before, and the text for French 
exercises is given. Every scholar from this 
day, is to repeat four verbs every lesson. 



Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Lessons. 

We have been proceeding through several 
new parts, which have all been explained and 
illustrated, and the students have already learnt 
twelve of the principal verbs; therefore their 
numerous terminations offer no longer any dif- 
ficulty: but to continue to say verbs merely as 
they are in all the grammars, would only give 
us a knowledge of the verb itself, and leave us 
ignorant of the mode of using it. This is not 
enough; we must repeat them as if we were 
either speaking or writing; that is to say, by 
forming complete propositions; and it is here 
that I introduce the great and important dis- 
covery I have made on the nature, attributes 
and function of personal pronouns, which stand 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 69 

always as a stumbling block in the way of those 
learning the French language. I shall publish 
it here, for the use of my scholars, who have 
never seen the table I now offer, although they 
have been taught the same by practical demon- 
stration. 

Personal pronouns are two-fold — the proper, 
and the relative personal. 

The proper, is that pronoun which stands 
always in the place of a proper name of men 
and women only, and cannot be used either for 
irrational beings or things. They are: 

Moi, toiy lui } elle, soi. Nous, vous } eux } elles* 

And as they represent proper names, they have 
also the same syntax, without one single ex- 
ception; either they precede or follow the verbs. 

The relative personal, are these, which stand 
for the antecedent members of a proposition. 



70 On the best Method of 

and not for proper names; they cannot receive 
any preposition. Their Syntax is even contrary 
to that of the substantives which are their re- 
lative antecedent, and they represent singly, 
the several members of a proposition, whose 
functions they perform, either as subject, ob- 
ject, or term of all propositions. I class them 
in the following manner: 



•eventing the accusative^ rational beings and things. 
)m pound. 



IstPc 
2d d 

3d d( 



1st Pei 
2d dc 



3d dc 



[To face page 70. j 



SER. 



■fun representing the dative foi 



of or from m< 

of or from thed 

or from, him or i| 

or from, her or ij , t0 it? in it> there? &c 
ft him, her or HseJ a b ovet 



to it, there, in it, &c, 
to it, in it, Sec. 



of or from i 

of or from y<L them, there, in them, &c. 
.oforfromthei to themj in them? about 
of or from the them, Sec. 

f above, 
ot themselv 



T A B L E. 



[To face page 70.] 



FIRST MEMBER. 



SECOND MEMBE] 



L 

sompo 



THIRD MEMBER. 



SINGULAR. 

it Person — both genders 
1 do. — both genders 

C masculine . 
, , } feminine . 
1 d0 - J reflective 

( indeterminate 



PLURAL. 
1st Person — both genders 
2d do. — both genders 
C masculine 
J feminine 



3d do. 



I reflective 



Pronouns representing the n< 



thou 
he, it 



£Ue, . . she, o 

// or elle, . he, she o 
On, one, they, people, we. 



they 
they 



me 

thee 

him or it 

her or it 

him, her or itself 



Pronouns refesenting the 



of or from me 

of or from thee 

. tor from, him or it 

. £ or from, her or it 

of or fam him, her or itself 

the above. 



of or from us 
of or from you 
"or from them 
from them 



of 



of themselves 



Pronouns representing the dative for 


lu'i, 
lui, 

the above 


to him 


to me 
to thee 
to him 
to her 
or to herself 

to us 


leur, 




to you 
to them 
to them 

themselves 



Pronoun representing the dative 
irrational beings and things. 



to it, in it, there, &c. 



y, to them, there, in them, &c. 
them, in them, about 
them, &c. 
the above. 



Teaching Foreign Languages. Tl 

With a view to illustrate the use of the fore- 
going table, which distributes the several func- 
tions the relative personal pronouns perform, I 
shall explain first, what I mean by members of 
a proposition: secondly, the division of those 
members, into nominative, accusative simple, 
and accusative compound, and dative for per- 
son, and dative for irrational beings and things. 
After which I shall give the only two rules, 
the application of which will make all the diffi- 
culties disappear. 

I consider that a proposition, to be perfect, 
must be composed of three members, either 
expressed or understood; that whatever may 
be added are either the circumstances, attri- 
butes, restrictions and modifications, belong- 
ing to either the one or the other, and which 
may be reproduced together or separately, un- 
til the subject is exhausted; these three mem- 
bers form the compound body of a perfect pro- 
position, as when I say: 



72 On the best Method of 

Moses gave the ten commandments to the 
Israelites. Here I consider Moses as the first 
member; the ten commandments, as the second 
member; to the Israelites, as the third; but if I 
add: who ungratefully rejected them to worship 
a golden calf; I find that who, representing the 
third member of the first proposition, is become 
the first member of the second; them meaning 
the ten commandments, is the second, and to 
worship a golden calf, is a reproduction of the 
first member, with a new second member. 

The first member is the subject, either ori- 
ginal or reproduced, and to which grammarians 
give the name of a nominative. 

The second member is the object, either 
original or reproduced, under two different 
forms, and called the accusative simple and com- 
pound. 

The third member is the term of a proposi- 
tion or otherwise the farthest end. an action and 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 73 

state of being can be carried, either original or 
reproduced, and called, Dative for persons, and 
Dative for irrational beings and things. 

The third person of the first, the second and 
third members, are originally substantives ex- 
Dressed or understood, which become the ante- 
cedent of the same members reproduced by the 
pronouns. When the several members are re- 
presented by substantives, in all simple and 
regular constructions, in French as in English, 
they take the same place; that is to say, the 1st 
member before the verb; the 2d member after 
the verb, and the 3d member after the 2d mem- 
ber. 

EXAMPLE. 

1 * 3 

Jesus Christ inspire la Saintete a ses disci- 

pks. 

1 2 3 

Jesus Christ inspires holiness in his fol- 
lowers. 

G 



74 On the best Method of 

But when these original members are repro- 
duced by pronouns, in English, they preserve 
the same syntax with their antecedent; in 
French, both the 2d and 3d members are trans- 
posed and placed before the verb. 



EXAMPLE. 

2 3 

He (Jesus Christ) inspires it (holiness) in them 
(his followers.) 

12 3 

II la, leur inspire. 

The transposition is here very sensible; but 
to make a further illustration of what I mean, 
(not by the 1st member called nominative, it is 
generally understood,) but by the second mem- 
ber, divided into accusative simple, and com- v 
pound, and by the third member, also divided 
into dative for persons and irrational beings and 
things, I shall proceed thus: 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 75 

Peter gives the book. Suppose I had said, 
Peter gives, you would naturally have asked 
what? The answer would be, the book, le livre; 
or, the bible, la bible; or, the flowers, les fleurs. 
Le livre, the book; la bible, the bible; lesfleurs, 
the flowers, are accusative simple; because they 
are preceded by no preposition, either express- 
ed or understood; and these being original 
members, I shall only take the articles that 
precede them, and placing the same before 
their verbs, they will perform the functions <?f 
the substantives to which they were auxiliaries. 



EXAMPLE. 

I give it (the book), I give it (the bible), I 
give them (the flowers.) 

Jele donne, (le livre), Je /adonne, (la bible), 
Je les donne, (les fleurs.) 



76 On the best Method of 

And in 

He loves me, I love thee, they love us, she 
loves you, they love themselves, Sec. &c. 

II m'aime, Je £'aime r ils ww aiment, ellc 
vous aime, ils Raiment. 

I see no preposition, expressed nor under- 
stood before the pronouns me, me; thee, te; 
us, nous; you, vous; themselves, se. Therefore, 
these pronouns, together with le, la, les, in the 
first example, represent the Accusative Simple 
of the Second Member. 

The accusative compound^ shows itself 
preceded by either of the prepositions of or 
from, de, expressed or understood, as in the fol- 
lowing examples: 

He sells books or some books, paper, ink, and 
goodpens. 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 77 

II vend, des livres, du papier, de Pencre et de 
bonnes plumes. 

Every noun in the French example, is pre- 
ceded by the preposition de, which is con- 
tracted with the article only, in des and du; 
therefore, the nouns it precedes, represent the 
accusative compound, because of the compound 
idea which it conveys to the mind. Although 
this preposition of or from, is not expressed in 
the English example, yet it is however under- 
stood; for after the indeterminate numerical 
adjective some, there is an ellipsis, which being 
filled, includes of the, and means the same as if 
it had been said, He sells some of the books, 
of the paper, of the ink, and of the good pens. 
This may, perhaps, appear extraordinary to 
some persons; but to prove it all at once, it is 
only necessary to change the substantives into 
pronouns, and the preposition of, will appear 
instantly: 

G2 



78 On the best Method of 

He sells some of them (books), some of it (pa- 
per), some of it (ink), some of them (good pens.) 



And 



in 



He speaks of me, of thee, of him, of her, 
of it, of us, of you, of them. I see all these pro- 
nouns preceded by the preposition of; there- 
fore, when the preposition of or from, de, is 
seen after a verb preceding a noun or pronoun, 
expressed or understood, as in the above ex- 
amples, these nouns and pronouns represent 
the accusative compound of the second member; 
the pronoun en, simply, expresses it in French, 
because of its being common to both genders 
and numbers. 

EXAMPLE. 

He sells books, II vend des livres. 

He sells some of them, II en vend. 
He comes from New York, II vient deNewYork. 
He comes from there, II en vient. 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 79 

The third member is called the Dative, and 
is the object to which the nominative has con- 
veyed the accusative, or the farther term, an 
action, or state of being expressed by the verb 
can be carried, to make a proposition perfect; 
as when I say, Thomas sold his horses to Mr. 
White. Here Mr. White, is the dative, to whom 
Thomas has conveyed his horses, through the 
channel of the proposition to; therefore, I may 
say, he sold them to him, or to her, or to them, 
or to me, to thee, to us, to you, and all these 
pronouns, preceded as they are by the preposi- 
tion to, represent die third member, called the 
Dative for person. Frequently, the second 
member is not expressed, and it is so with neu- 
tral verbs which receive no accusative, as, / 
walked to the play. I live in Philadelphia. I 
went into the house. I go to that place, there, 
or thither, &c. &c. To the play, in PhiladeU 
phia, into the house, to that place there, or 
thither, represent the dative for things, &c. and 
are the farther terms of the action expressed by 
the several verbs; it is expressed in French by 



80 On the best Method of 

Y> a pronoun common to both genders and 
numbers. 

If I have been so very particular in defining 
what I mean, by accusative and dative, it is be- 
cause these denominations are not always un- 
derstood by those who have only learnt the 
English grammar. Such as are acquainted with 
the Latin, will not thank me for keeping them 
so long from the promised rules. However, 
they will lie under some obligation, for my 
having retained those denominations which 
they already understand. 

The accusative and dative pronouns must 
be placed before their verbs; it remains only to 
show how they take their places before the 
verb. 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 81 

FIRST RULE, 

Including the Nominative, the Accusative Sim- 
ple, and the Dative for persons. 

When the dative is represented by a pro- 
noun of the third person, both singular and 
plural, it takes its place immediately before the 
verb, and after the accusative; but on the con- 
trary, when a dative is represented by a pro- 
noun of the first and second persons, both sin- 
gular and plural, the dative is then placed be- 
fore the accusative. 

EXAMPLE. 
He gives them to him. II les lui donne. 

Here, to him, lui, is a pronoun of the third 
person; it is placed immediately before the 
verb, and after the accusative les. 

But on the contrary: 
He gives them to me. II me les donne. 



82 On the best Method of 

Here, to me, me, is a pronoun of the first 
person, representing the dative; it is placed be- 
fore the accusative les. 



SECOND RULE. 

Including the Accusative Compound, and the 
Dative for things. 

When the accusative compound, and dative 
for things, come together, the dative precedes 
the accusative, which must always be placed 
next to the verb; but if they come separately, 
each one retains its place next to the verb, 
even to the exclusion of the other pronouns, 
which preserve the mutual order established by 
the first rule. 

EXAMPLE. 

1 2 

He sends some of them, thither, there, or to 
that place. 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 83 

2 1 

II y, en envoie. 

Here, thither, there, or to that place, y, re- 
presents the dative for things, and some of them, 
en, the accusative compound. According to the 
rule, y, the dative, precedes en, the accusative 
compound, which is always placed next to the 
verb. 

But if they come separately, as: 

I shall carry them to you, thither or to that 
place. 

Je vous les y porterai. 

Or, 
I shall carry some of them, to them. 
Je leur en porterai. 

It is seen that, thither or to that place, y, and 
some of them, en, take their place immediately 
before the verb, and the other pronouns retain 
the place assigned to them by the first rule. 



84 On the best Method of 

The only exception, 
which is hardly worth mentioning, practice 
making it sensible and easy in one minute's 
time, is, that these pronouns are to be placed 
after the verb, in the imperative used affirma- 
tively; but if used negatively, they preserve 
their places before the verb, according to the 
two above rules. 

Now with the table I have offered, and the 
two only rules, which direct its proper use, the 
students know instantly as much about the 
personal relative pronouns, as ninety-nine 
Frenchmen out of one hundred; and much 
more about the attributes and functions of 
these pronouns, than the whole body of gram- 
marians that have written on that subject; who, 
for want of a proper analysis of their relative 
functions, have not been able to class them as 
they ought; hence those numberless pages 
written, and each new rule contradicting the 
rule already given; many of them, after giving 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 85 

eighteen pages of useless explanations, have 
been obliged to resort to arithmetical figures, 
to mark the place these pronouns are to take. „ 

This table removes likewise, all the difficul- 
ties on the declension of the past participle of 
an active verb, construed with the auxiliary, 
Avoir, to have: a single rule, without one soli- 
tary exception, determines this most nice sub- 
ject, upon which volumes have been written, 
I shall not give it here. I have already said 
more than I ought, if, as I apprehend, the me- 
chanism displaying the operations of the mind, 
are not protected by law, as the manual me- 
chanism is. Every improvement in the mecha- 
nical arts, is entitled to a patent, which secures 
to the improver the benefit of his improvement. 
I have as good a title to the protection and be- 
nefit of the law as they, and I would ask the 
same right and privileges, if the law would al- 
low me so to do. ' 

But to resume our principal subject, let us 
H 



86 On the best Method of 

recollect that we are still at our sixth lesson. 
The student being led into the secret essence 
and principle of the language, will be able to 
resolve the greatest difficulties. Nevertheless, 
his tongue will show itself a rebel still, because 
of its old habit of placing the objective pro- 
nouns after the verbs. This stumbling block 
must be removed; and to effect this, the stu- 
dents are taught to recite with a verb a perfect 
proposition. We proceed thus: 

Let us suppose the verb to be conjugated is 
to selU vendre: the student begins Je vends, I 
sell; he is asked what? he answers, des mer- 
chandises, goods. Who to? A ces Messieurs, to 
these gentlemen. He then recites the whole 
present tense, thus: Je vends des marchandises a 
ces Messieurs, &c. Sec. I sell goods to these gen- 
tlemen, &c. Every student repeats alternately 
the same tense. After which they are asked, 
what are the pronouns to be used for goods and 
gentlemen? They answer, the compound accusa- 
tive en, and the dative for persons leur. Place 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 87 

them before the verb and recite it through, 
One begins: Jc leur en vendais, tn leur en ven- 
dais, il leur envendait, &c. &c. That is: I sold 
some of them to them, thou didst sell some of 
them to them, he sold some of them to them, Sec, 
and so on through all the tenses and moods, 
which being repeated alternately, the ear grows 
familiar with the new combination of sounds 
produced by the transposition of these pro- 
nouns. From this day all the verbs are to be 
recited by propositions; that is to say with all 
the pronouns it is possible for them to receive, 
either in a negative or interrogative sense. 

On the same day, that is to say, the sixth 
lesson, we add another exercise, in order to 
improve the memory, and teach both the 
tongue and the ear. One or two pages of 
French phrases, grounded on the principles 
which they serve more fully to illustrate, are to 
be committed to memory, and recited without 
a book, by repeating thus: Suppose I say in 
English, the study of languages improves and 



S8 On the best Method of 

enriches the mind. One of the students repeats 
the same in French, and says: V etude des Ian- 
gues perfections Vesprit et Penrichit. The 
same is repeated separately, by every student, 
whose attention is engrossed by the French, 
which is rapidly passing from one to the other. 
In this manner we proceed through the task 
given. By this simple method, the tongue 
grows every day more flexible, and the ear 
acquires a knowledge of sounds. 

The committing of phrases to memory, is 
thought by many teachers, to be unnecessary. 
This opinion proves either a want of judgment 
or great ignorance. Were these phrases even 
recited in the old way, or as it is practised by 
many, without repeating them, they would cer- 
tainly be improving. But by my new method, 
it gives accuracy to the ear, boldness to the 
tongue, and qualifies the student for conversa- 
tion. 

The several exercises already mentioned. 



Teaching Foreign Languages* 89 

are continued. When the students have receiv- 
ed the twelfth lesson, they are able to read 
boldly; we then discard the mere pronouncing 
of short sentences, and take UAbeille Fraiu 
raise, out of which they read alternately, both 
prose and poetry, which they construe into 
English without a dictionary. 

The students are led progressively forward 
throqgh all their exercises, and when arrived 
at the twenty-fourth lesson, they are qualified 
to enter into a new and nobler exercise, by 
which the students are taught to compose into 
French, widiout either book or dictionary. 
Here, the mind is led to think in that language; 
the ear must acquire a perfect knowledge of 
the value of sounds, and the hand must cease 
to be a rebel in tracing rapidly upon paper, the 
characters that are the representatives of 
thought. I proceed to it in the following man- 
ner. 

The class being ready to write, I read in 
H2 



90 On the best Method of 

English, a whole phrase out of a French book 
that I hold in my hand. One of the students 
composes aloud into perfect French, what I 
have been saving in English; when the phrase 
is made perfect, I pronounce it distinctly, and 
every student writes down what I have repeat- 
ed. We proceed through the book in the same 
manner, each student composing alternately by 
turns. While they are writing, I explain the 
rules, the tenses, and mood, genders and acci- 
dences, and even spell when necessary. All this 
is done with such rapidity, that they are kept 
busy writing as fast as they can write. 

This new and improving exercise, is now 
considered as the ground work of the language; 
the others are all continued; they are auxiliaries 
to this, and teach separately all the parts which 
this last comprises and brings into practice. At 
the end of four months and a half from the day 
they began to study French, they write this 
language grammatically, and with as much 
ease as their vernacular tongue. 



Teaching Foreign Languages* 91 

All the difficulties have now vanished, the 
language is grown easy, the students hear when 
spoken to, they make themselves understood 
when they speak, and they write it tolerably; 
and behold, the class dissolves. Many of them 
think they know already enough; — they carry 
with them all the thorns they have picked, and 
leave the rose standing on its stem, at the very 
moment they were to get it. 

Such as wish for greater perfection, conti- 
nue. They are introduced into new exercises;, 
they are to read French from English without 
a dictionary, and then bring the same written 
from home. The verbs, which form the most 
essential part of a language, continue to be re- 
cited with all the pronouns; but we take a 
wider range, in order to have them all at our 
command. We proceed towards it in the fol- 
lowing manner: The several tenses of a verb 
must be made up with a different verb. Thus: 
Je le lui presenter &c. (through the present 
tense), Jelesyrnettais, &c. (through the imper- 



92 On the best Method of 

feet), Je leur enparlai, &c. Jeleur y en porterai, 
&c. Thus in reciting the value of four verbs, we 
pass thirty-two of them in review; or we re- 
cite them in all their shapes, as: Jepunis, J\ti 
pimi, Je suispuni, J'aietepuni, through all the 
tenses and moods, and frequently with the re- 
lative personal and possessible pronouns, to- 
gether with a noun, as: Jevous prete mon livre, 
tu luipretes ton livre, il me prete son livre, &c. 
&c; and likewise, with the relative possessive 
pronoun, as: Jevous prete le mien, tului pretes 
le tien, il me prete le sien, &c. Sometimes we 
join adverbs: Je vous le prete de bon cceur, &c. 
&c. In fine, there is not a single construction 
which is not rendered familiar to the student, 
who may in a short time speak, understand, 
and write it well 3 though not perfectly. In or- 
der to acquire it in perfection, the mind must 
be brought to reason deeply on the philosophy 
of the language. They have compared words; 
but these words need now to be examined in 
all their bearings; therefore, a philosophical 
analysis of the language ought to be made alto- 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 93 

gether in French. I do not mean'an analysis by 
rote; I mean a demonstrative analysis in writ- 
ing; and this is the farthest a teacher can go 
with his pupils, whom he then leaves, conscious 
of having performed his duty — satisfied with 
his pupils' progress, and honoured by their at- 
tainments. 

I have avoided entering into the minutiae 
which necessarily attend the teaching of a lan- 
guage. I have thought it sufficient to develope 
the principal features of my new system, which 
I shall reproduce here under the form of a re- 
capitulation. 

1st. The pronouncing of French sentences 
by repeating, in order to teach the tongue to 
articulate, and the ear to acquire a knowledge 
of sounds. 

2d. The analytical method of construing the 
several parts of speech in writing, which teach- 
es the students, how to render the most abstruse 



94 On the best Method of 

and difficult parts of the language, and by which 
they learn both the construction and orthogra- 
phy of words. 

3d. The reciting of French sentences without 
a book, and by repeating. This enriches the 
memory with a larger stock of words; teaches 
the phraseology of the language; forces the 
students to a mutual conversation with each 
other; gives boldness and confidence in utter- 
ing words; shortens the difficulties of reading, 
and improves both the tongue and the ear, the 
first, in uttering sounds; the second, in under- 
standing their value. 

4th. The philosophy of the relative personal 
pronouns, and their use rendered sensible and 
easy at first sight. 

5th. The reciting of verbs by forming per- 
fect propositions, with all the pronouns repre- 
senting their members either as subjects, ob- 
jects or terms. This exercise removes, at 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 95 

once, the greatest difficulty the students meet 
in acquiring a knowledge of the French, be- 
cause of the transposition of these pronouns, 
which are so many stumbling blocks in their 
way, and which can only be removed by recit- 
ing them together with the verbs, by which 
means their construction becomes easy and 
familiar. 

6th. The composing in French and writing, 
under dictation; this great ground work of the 
language, that which combines in itself all the 
parts which the other exercises teach separate- 
ly; that key to the thought, which obliges the 
student to make use of all he acquires every 
day; which forces him to think, to compare, 
and to compose; which teaches him to trans- 
pose the sounds which strike his ear, into a 
lasting body, and introduce him into tre mys- 
teries, exceptions and minutiae of the language, 
&c. &c. 

7th. The reading both in prose and poetry, 



96 On the best Method of 

and construing the same into English without 
a dictionary, 

8th. The reading French from English with- 
out a dictionary, and a written translation of 
the same to be made at home, and brought for 
correction. 

9th. The reciting of verbs in all their forms; 
each new tense to be made up with a different 
verb, expressing compound propositions, with 
pronouns, substantives and adverbs. This ex- 
ercise gives activity to the mind in finding in- 
stantly the proper verb to be used. 

10th. A written philosophical and demon- 
strative analysis in French, when the other 
exercises may be discarded, and replaced by 
conversations on all topics and subjects im- 
proving, agreeable, and instructive. This last 
exercise brings the student as near to perfec- 
tion as possible; it closes and crowns the labour 
of both the teacher and his pupil. 



Treating Foreign Languages. 97 

On examination it will be found, that out of 
these ten prominent features, the second, se- 
venth and eighth only, are partly used b) T other 
teachers, the remaining seven by me alone: 
, they are my own invention. 

I am confident that if all these exercises 
combining theory and practice, and going to- 
gether hand in hand, as if to help each other 
mutually, are not conducive to the attainment 
of a language by the safest and shortest way to 
be found, no plan or system can ever be de- 
vised that shall do it. 

But there is another class of students, whose 
object is simply to translate the French lan- 
guage into their vernacular tongue. With this 
object in view, they require the attendance of 
a teacher who generally begins by making 
them translate French into English. This me- 
thod of teaching is contrary to both reason and 
philosophy; for, it is an absurdity to make a 
word, the meaning of which is unknown to the 
XI. 



98 On the best Method of 

student, the main principle of a comparison. 
Would it be thought rational in a philosopher, 
to make unknown stars belonging to unknown 
systems, the sole principle of comparison, by 
which we were to discover by analogy, what 
are the annual and diurnal rotation of the pla- 
nets belonging to our system? Such an one, 
would be thought a fit subject for the atten- 
dance of medical gentlemen, in one of the cells 
of the Pennsylvania hospital. 

However, to make up for such an ill digest- 
ed scheme, the teacher stands by the student, 
and translates every wordforliim, or, otherwise 
makes him waste his time in the acquisition of 
what is unnecessary for the attainment of his 
object. Other teachers, more cunning and less 
honest, select such books, or passages of 
books, which every body knows by heart. 
Suppose it were, for example, The Gospel ac- 
cording to Saint John. Where is a parson, or a 
seal christian, who knows not the whole of it 
by heart. Well, this is given to reverend gen- 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 99 

tlemen to translate into English, They need 
but transcribe what they already know, and 
then are gravely told, it is a translation they 
have made. There are quacks in every profes- 
sion; and in languages as in physic, their great 
characteristics are ignorance and deception. 
These would have the world believe they have 
composed a specific for the cure of all diseases. 
Those that they have composed an unnamed 
essence, forty- eight drops of which, adminis- 
tered every other day, have the marvellous 
faculty of diffusing the knowledge of the French 
language into the whole frame of the body of 
man. But, the better to allure such, as seldom 
take the trouble of thinking for themselves, 
they both produce certificates of the miracu- 
lous effects of their wonderfuLdiscoveries; and 
among the names thus made public, are fre- 
quently found those who are made subservient 
to the work of deceit, by inducing sober men 
to betray their best judgment, to follow their 
example; and although such certificates iden- 
tify the ignorance of the givers, with respect 



100 On the best Method of 

to the thing certified, yet it eventually brings 
impostors into a kind of repute, and affords 
them opportunities of deceiving on a larger 
scale. 

I presume that those persons who merely 
wish to understand the written language, are 
generally elderly men, acquainted with the dead 
languages, and capable of analysing their ver- 
nacular tongue. This is all that is requisite to 
make them stride over the difficulties of the 
language with gigantic steps. Students of this 
description ought, from the very first day, to 
translate English into French, thereby making 
the word known the principle of analogy with 
the corresponding word to be sought for in a 
dictionary. 

The better to illustrate what I have just said, 
let us suppose a student has this first passage 
of Saint John to translate into French: 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 101 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word was God. 

With the assistance of his grammar and die- 
tionary, he makes the following translation 
word for word, and writes it down, thus: 

Au commencement etaii la Parole, et la Pa- 
role Halt avec Dieu, et la Parole etait Dieu. 

He may thus proceed alone, and translate 
out of any book he pleases; and I am confident, 
that if he be diligent, in less than twenty days, 
he will read a French book without using a 
dictionary. This is evident, for during twenty 
days he will be continually employed in analy- 
sing, composing and .writing French. The 
impression made by that which his eyes have 
viewed, his mind has compared, and the cha- 
racters which his hand has traced, will be deep 
and lasting; and those words which he has thus 
composed, will always be present in his me- 
mory. 

12 



102 On the best Method of 

If, on the contrary, a student is directed to 
translate French into English, how shall he 
analyse a sentence made up of words, the 
meaning of which is unknown to him? Which 
of those words is the subject, object or term, 
verb or attribute, modification or circum- 
stance? This he knows not, he cannot know it; 
therefore, he is perplexed and can do nothing, 
except his teacher be by him, and do for him, 
what he ought to do himself alone. A good 
etymologist knows that the French and English 
languages have a common origin; but the 
French pilfered from both the Greek and Latin, 
whose spoils the English received at the hand 
of the French, under a fantastical dress. Na- 
tional pride, fancy, and the fickleness of every 
succeeding generation, have made such changes 
in the garb of the same individuals, that 
although they retain the primitive stock, they 
have now assumed a different appearance. 
These diversified draperies which conceal the 
same object, will perplex even the best scholar. 
Hence, if he succeed in making a translation 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 103 

from the French into English, he does it more 
by conjecture than by a knowledge of the real 
meaning of the French word. Besides, after 
overcoming many difficulties, what has he pro- 
duced? An English transcription. Can he ac- 
quire a thorough knowledge of the combina- 
tion of the letters that compose a Frerxh word 
by writing English? It is true, his eyes have 
had a sight of the French word; but they have 
in reality been employed in viewing the com- 
bination of the English letters, which his hand 
has traced. Thus, the eyes, the mind and the 
hand, which are the principal agents in this 
work, are rendered nugatory, It would, in- 
deed, be more profitable for him, to take a 
French book already translated into English, 
and then spend his time in seeking for, and 
viewing every corresponding word. In this last 
case, both his eyes and mind would at least be 
equally intent on both languages; whereas by 
translating French into English, the first of 
these receives but a mere glance; and the se- 
cond engrosses all his faculties. Would not a 



104 On the best Method of 

man be thought out of his senses, were he to 
affirm, that by merely casting a glance at a 
building as he passes along, he knew as much 
about the quantity and quality of the materials, 
which have been employed in its perfect struc- 
ture, as he who has raised and finished it? 

I then say, that he who is a scholar, will be 
capable of reading a French book in less than 
twenty days, if he do at once translate French 
into English; and were it not for some idioma- 
tical phrases and proverbial expressions, he 
might do this alone, without the assistance of a 
teacher. 

Will it be objected that this is a theory un- 
tried by experience? I answer, that numerous 
experiments have proved its superiority over 
the old systems. I can produce many instances, 
and I myself am one. I never employed any 
body to teach me the English language. On 
my first coming to the United States, I wished 
to acquire a knowledge of the English Ian- 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 105 

guage, that I might in due time, enjoy the ad- 
vantage of citizen in a free country. I called on 
a teacher; he was a Jew; and although he had 
a great many pupils, he knew nothing about 
grammar; such a teacher did not answer my 
purpose; I resolved to make an experiment. 
A friend of mine wrote to Philadelphia, (I was 
in Charleston, S. C.) to get a copy ofCobbett's 
Grammar for me. In the mean while, with the 
assistance of a dictionary and a grammar for 
Englishmen to learn French, I began to trans- 
late French into English. I could not have 
translated English into French; for it was im- 
possible for me to tell what such and such 
words were or meant; but by following my 
own plan, in less than ten days, I understood 
the newspapers; and within thirty days I read 
English books without using a dictionary. So,, 
that when the grammar expected from Phila- 
delphia arrived, I had no use for it. Thus, I 
acquired a knowledge of the written language 
in a short time; but, I was like a deaf man 
when spoken to 3 nor could I speak but some 



106 On the best Method of 

broken sentences. To hear and speak a foreign 
language well, present many difficulties, which 
are to be overcome only by application and 
practice. I improved every opportunity. At 
the court-house, I received lessons on the oral 
language, by listening to the arguments of the 
advocates. Places of worship were as many 
places of instruction for me; and having a 
psalm book in my hand, the venerable clergy- 
man taught me to pronounce English. Never- 
theless, two years passed away in constant prac- 
tice, before I could speak readily on all sub- 
jects, or understand whatever was said withia 
my hearing. 

What I have just said of myself, and the nu- 
merous experiments I have made by teaching 
others, fully prove, that although a person who 
has a perfect knowledge of his vernacular 
tongue can, in the manner I have stated, be- 
come acquainted with the written language in 
a short time; yet it is impossible to acquire a 
thorough knowledge of its three component 



Teaching Foreign Languages. 107 

parts within so short a period. Besides, a per- 
son learning French in this country, meets 
with no such opportunities as I had. Is the 
French language spoken in the family he lives 
witli? Is there a coun-house, where he may go 
and listen to the arguments of advocates,, or 
hear the charges delivered by the judge in the 
French language? Can he repair to a place of 
worship, and there hear a discourse delivered 
in French from the pulpit? No. What an im- 
postor must he be, who promises to make his 
pupils perfect in the knowledge of the French 
language in a few lessons, by making them 
translate French into English? 

It is evident that a person who wishes to ac- 
quire the three component parts of the French 
language, is to learn them from his teacher; 
and the system herein presented for this pur- 
pose, is the one by which it can be effected. 

Ere I take leave of the reader, I will inform 
him, that I have written a Grammar, which 



108 On the best Method of Teaching,^. 

will render the acquisition of the French lan- 
guage as easy as the attainment of the alphabet. 
This work is formed on a plan entirely new. 
It displays to the eyes the mechanism of the 
language in a series of comprehensive tables, 
which at once resolve all the difficulties, and 
destroy those numberless, unintelligible, and 
contradictory rules found in all grammars ex- 
tant. This work will be put to press in the 
course of the ensuing summer. And now, I 
submit this Essay to the public, and respect- 
fully appeal to their generosity, by requesting 
that patronage, to which they will find me 
entitled by my own merit as a professor of 
Languages. 



THE END. 




' 



i&V' 



IwL 



WKBk 







^^# 






1 h 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



003 107 053 3 






